Windies Women face must-win clash for World Cup semis spot

WEST INDIES women’s head coach Shane Deitz described his team’s October 15 must-win ICC Women’s T20 World Cup tie against England as “no pressure” despite both nations needing a positive result to confirm a spot in the semi-final round.

West Indies are third, on four points in Pool B, with leaders England and South Africa respectively ahead, both on six points. A win for the maroon also puts them on six points but they must maintain a superior net run rate (NRR) than South Africa if they are to progress.

Currently, England, who are at the top, have the best NRR of 1.716 while second-ranked South Africa are on 1.382 and the Windies women 1.708.

The last time the maroon team faced England, the latter emerged victors at the 2023 World Cup. Head-to-head, West Indies have won only eight of the 28 T20Is played against England.

However, with a coveted Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final place up for grabs, coach Deitz believes all the pressure lies on England since they’ve been considered Pool B “favourites” from the get-go.

“We’re going to play our game and go with attacking flair and freedom. I think all the pressure is on England. It’s not pressure on us so it’s a great way to be. We want to get in front early, put the pressure on them and then play with our flair and have some fun out there. We back ourselves and our skills to get over the line,” Deitz said.

When asked about his game plan ahead of the crucial clash, Deitz said a positive start is integral to building a stern foundation.

“We want to start well, whether you bat or bowl first, get on top and try to control from there and not let the opposition back in. (We) got a few surprises up our sleeve so we’ll keep that under lock and key for now. Keep the pressure on. If the opposition gets a good start we got to fight back quickly and turn the momentum around and control the game from there,” he added.

So far, West Indies have lost one of their three Pool B matches, losing the opener against South Africa, and bouncing back to seal convincing wins over Bangladesh and Scotland. England, though, remain unbeaten after three and would be aiming to end the group stage with a perfect record.

Deitz confirmed maintaining a superior NRR in the final group match is being discussed among players and staff but they are “not really worried about it”.

“It would have been great to have won the first game but it has put us in a position where basically every game has been a grand finals. The girls, to their credit, they’ve really attacked the opposition every time we played since then. It’s put us in a really good position now and a win should get us over the line. I know there are a lot of (NRR) calculations going on, it’s made my head spin a bit. But we have to go out and win the game and we should be fine.”

West Indies’ last World Cup match was a stern eight-wicket victory over Bangladesh on October 10. Since then, the squad has held two practice sessions and a few fun activities to keep the team spirit alive.

“The team is gelling pretty well together. We had a good hard session last night (October 13) and tonight (October 14) will be a little bit lighter to top up our skills and be really fresh for the game. We’re in good spirits so we’re excited about the opportunity that lies ahead.”

On the squad’s progress throughout the competition, Deitz said the opening loss against South Africa was a learning curve. Despite arriving in the United Arab Emirates a couple of weeks before the tournament bowled off, the team didn’t adapt to the conditions fast enough at Dubai International Stadium.

Against England at the same venue, Deitz said they intend to show great fighting spirit, be entertaining, enjoy their cricket and play with freedom.

West Indies will also hope all-rounder Stafanie Taylor is available for their final group game having picked up a knee injury during their last World Cup match.

West Indies versus England bowls off from 10am (TT time).